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Lily of the Valley
“The greatest happiness is to transform one's feelings into action” - Madame de Stael Personality Lily keeps her demeanor approachable but her reputation unfortunately precedes her, and her sardonic, cruel nature is well documented and widely rumored. The thing about these opponent natures is that her cruelty is an uncontrollable demon, whereas the demeanor of formality, affection and sympathy is what she aspires to. Her history is sordid enough that when one fully understands it they can appreciate why she resorts to her inherent cruelty, and why one can appreciate more-so her attempts to temper her attitude. That said, it is no solace to those she kills, nor the loved ones her fallen leave behind. Appearance Not one for ostentatious dress, Lily prefers to dress in a black burqa-like cloak that only reveals light brown eyes. Beneath the cloak, however, is a surprising example of superficial innocence. Lily is very much still a young girl in appearance; her hair is black, straight, reaching barely passed her shoulders; her skin soft, pale; her face naive and impressionable. Her figure is thin, but fit, like that of a runners. History Lily was born to an interesting circumstance; her parents were part of an anti-military fringe faction that were deathly afraid of Soul Society government and advocated for a more democratic form of government. They were, in all observable aspects, separated from mainstream society. The organization housed themselves in a complex bunker system carved into a mountain by a flamboyant noble who too was paranoid about the fate of Soul Society under the feudal government. Nonetheless, Lily's parents were average despite their remarkable settings. Her father was a research assistant for a division dedicated to developing sustainable crops in a bunker setting and her mother was a high-school equivalent chemistry teacher. She lived a comfortable child-hood because despite the offbeat nature of their living, the bunker community sustained a fruitful economy, society structure and general living standard. Lily was quickly recognized as having exceptional intellectual potential, and later prodigious development in her abilities as a soul reaper. The bunker community, though, had no real interest in developing her soul reaper powers and thus any progress she made in that field had to be personal; her intelligence, however, was greatly revered. A rounded base of knowledge was fostered in her so that she understood several scientific fields but her interest always lied in the application of spiritual energy in mechanical devices. One of her first inventions was a string-substance that could respond to sensitive cues from spiritual energy; at first this invention saw uses in a variety of sensitive machinery but much, much later when she was to join the RFLP she would apply it in battle devices. Tragedy struck quickly to the bunker-community by outsourced mercenaries who sought to cull the movement before it gained momentum. It is not clear exactly who hired the mercenaries, be it the Soul Society government or other interested parties but nonetheless the attack saw few casualties. The bunker was plentiful in defenses and was shut down immediately. The mercenaries tried several methods to penetrate the defenses but they hit a proverbial brick wall and they retreated. The attack however reverberated throughout the community and exacerbated an already glaring fear of force from the outside. The community was put into a state of indefinite lock-down and self-sufficiency became the driving goal of the bunker. This sweeping decisions raised some criticisms however and was the catalyst for the creation of the Revolutionary Forces for a Liberated People to whom Lily was to be a part of. The dissent at first was confined to debate and petition but soon plots arose, and then a formal representative body: the People for a Liberated Society. At this point Lily was only 17 but the dissident rhetoric appealed to her; she figured that it was unfair that her people could not enjoy the wonders of the outside world because of a clearly fascist feudal system. The People for a Liberated Society eventually tired of the sluggish deliberation and filed for a formal release from the bunker, they were acquiesced. In total, thirty people, including Lily, left the bunker under the banner of the PLS. Lily's parents said only one thing to her before she left, "Lily, we are not disappointed in your decision because you are ultimately in charge of your own future, but it does sadden us that you see violence as an acceptable means to your end. If we see each other in the future we can only assume you will not be the same girl who left here, and that, in many ways, hurts us more than you will ever know" People for a Liberated Society → Revolutionary Forces for a Liberated People The PLS developed a loose hierarchy system for its organization and based itself in secluded jungle-like areas far from developed communities. For a long time they kept a low profile in order to train, gather resources and establish a base of operations. In a years time the People for a Liberated Society had renamed themselves the Revolutionary Forces for a Liberated Society as a method of fostering morale and fighting spirit among its constituents, who had grown in size. Lily rose up the "ranks" in a very de facto manner as there were few trusted to be higher echelon members at the time; recruitment was very desperate so anywhere from exiles to common thugs could join. She reveled in her power but as she grew in status her leadership abilities came into question; her division, as it was known at the time, kept to gathering resources in a frivolous manner that often left her subordinates in high-risk situations. She always talked of "improving fortifications" and "learning of their technology" in an obsessive manner. When restructuring in the RFLP began some time later her division was delegated to research and development and kept mostly out of combat situations, although her camp was downsized accordingly since they were a "support" force. Perhaps looking to comeback from the tacit disgrace her group had become she pioneered several rudimentary, and later very complex battlefield technologies that infused the raw potential of spiritual energy with the weapons of the world of the living. As a result of her breakthroughs her arm became capable of taking on larger groups of Soul Society foot soldiers through range and precision. Powers and Abilities Expert Defensive Swordsman Specialist: Lily is adept at using her small weapon for precision defense maneuvers if assaulted in close combat. Kido Expert: This is her primary form of combat if her zanpakuto is not released. She has honed this ability to the point where she can retain the full power of most spells without reciting the incantation and has developed her own spells as well. Masterful Endurance: Exceptional endurance to pain and injury. Master Hakuda Combatant: This is her primary physical form of combat. She is learned in defensive and offensive hakuda techniques and is relatively capable of subduing or killing opponents through this manner. Genius-level Intellect: Learns and reasons in a manner likened to a savant. Flash-step Expert: Adept at the use of flash-step. Zanpakuto Entheogen (God Inside Us) is Lily's zanpakuto taking the form of a European-style stiletto easily concealed within her cloak when not in use. It is primarily a kido-type zanpakuto with little physical combat applications other than defense. :Belladonna: The Deadly Nightshade: this is a primary technique which has inspired reverence for its brutality in combat, and subsequently was how Lily ended up with the nickname "Lily of the Valley" (after the poisonous plant of the same name). The stiletto will bloom a single bell-like flower apropos of its namesake which fills the air with a black mist, carrying sentient spores towards the target. Upon hitting the target, the spores will form into a colonial mass starting at the feet and harden into a black, root-like form in order to penetrate the victim's skin. A unique hallucinogenic substance laced with spiritual energy will begin a very vivid dissociative experience that draws out insecurities and manifests them into a tangible form. The experience is different for every subject and depends on the subject's subconscious mind. The subject will often confuse this ability with materializing an actual opponent for them to fight but during the entire course of this "battle" the subject remains stationary as the root starts to engulf his/her body. If the subject is incapable of snapping out of the induced illusion then he/she will be completely covered by a root system from head to toe. ::Mandragora: Weed of Ill-Omen: a secondary technique that decomposes the body within the tomb-like root system leaving condensed soul energy that retains the victim's consciousness and spiritual energy. :Cuscuta: Strangleweed: by throwing the stiletto in a projectile-like manner, upon impact the stiletto will grow rapidly and wildly with strangleweed. While in its traditional botanical nature, strangleweed only affects other plants, this variety of cuscuta will entangle entire yards of land at the whim of Lily grasping at any living being in the infestation radius. The cuscuta will then sap spiritual energy right from the air and from any beings in its tangle. The weed grows thicker the more it consumes and requires a larger output on the part of the entangled in order to achieve even the most basic attacks. Effectively, if one wishes to destroy the weed while in its grasp they must produce an output of spiritual energy larger than the rate at which the weed is draining it. :Brugmansia: Devil's Trumpet: the tip of the stiletto will grow a thin luminescent vine that will sprout the bells of the brugmansia. The bells will detach and float in the air in an attractive display before disintegrating into a flurry of tattered petals. Watching the display for even a second is a costly mistake as the bells excrete a translucent cloud of potent scopolamine, hyoscyamine, and tropane alkaloids that induce a zombified state. The effects can be overcome momentarily by those with great spiritual energy but the effects of the toxins are recurring and often can only be identified post-effect by a sense of loss of time...or possibly a large wound suffered during a bout of zombification. Bankai Atropos: The Inevitable Fate: in its bankai form, the stiletto shatters from a burgeoning bark-like vine growth that wraps around Lily. The vines begin as a thick growth in the middle of her back and end coiled around her four limbs; at the end of each limb the vines becomes more veinous and thin. The growth can grow and become denser at will and is effective in both the defensive and offensive. :Ayahuasca: Vine of Souls: The vines around her body start to engorge with sporadic knots like that of the ayahuasca; each knot glows with a soul she has collected with her Mandragora technique. At this point, she can release the soul as a tangible avatar of the person who formerly constituted it. The avatar will retain the abilities, spiritual pressure and appearance of the person whom it represents and as such, fighting the avatar is not as simple as cutting down a henchman. Additionally, Lily can absorb a collected soul in order to regenerate from any wounds she may have incurred during a battle; doing so, however, will induce a brief state of psychosis making her much more violent. :Hura Crepitans: Sandbox Tree: a single seed can be launched, in a bullet-like fashion, at the ground; from there, it will grow instantaneously into a grandiose Sandbox Tree. The tree itself acts as a semi-sentient sentry weapon and has a variety of means with which to inflict damage. It can fling highly explosive seed pods that are likened to bala blasts; it can summon spines from the ground upon contact, similar to a proximity mine; it can fill the air with a potent neurotoxin mist. If one attempts to cut down the tree it will excrete a viscous sap that harden upon impact, trapping whatever sought to hit it on contact. :Titan Arum: Corpse Flower: this is an ultimate technique, with the definition of ultimate being adhered to, as this technique requires no follow-up due to the severity of its effects. A large radius will be engulfed by a dome shaped tomb composed of the petals of the corpse flower. Anyone caught inside the dome will immediately experience a psychoactive episode of irrational fear, all five senses will be cut off and the dome will fill with a moist corrosive vapor. The vapor will decompose any organic being within the dome; the speed at which this composition happens is dependent on the spiritual energy of the victim in comparison to that of Lily's. Decomposition can range from instantaneous to gradual.